© Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Were you worried Arik Armstead was going to be too expensive for the 49ers to retain? Apparently not. Armstead and the 49ers are reportedly closing in on a seismic deal that’s worth about what an extension for DeForest Buckner originally figured to cost.
According to Matt Barrows of The Athletic and Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports, the numbers are absolutely staggering.
Armstead will take in just under the $17.8 million franchise tag number for defensive ends this season, with an average salary of $17 million.
Hearing the deal between the #49ers and Arik Armstead is for 5 years and averages around $17M a year. Which makes sense since the franchise number for his position, DE, is $17.8M.
— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) March 16, 2020
The deal could pay Armstead up to $85 million over the five-year lifespan, and there is no word on the guarantees involved as of yet. According to OverTheCap, the 49ers had just under $10 million of cap space before the trade, meaning they’ll have to clear a siginificant amount of money to fit it in under the cap.
San Francisco can cut Tevin Coleman to save $4.9 million, cut or trade Marquise Goodwin for a roughly $3.63 million savings and do the same for Jerick McKinnon would save about $4 million. Solomon Thomas can also be traded to save roughly $4 million, and Jimmy Garoppolo, DeForest Buckner and Kyle Juszczyk are all prime extension/restructure candidates to move their cap hit forward in order to accommodate both the Armstead extension and impending George Kittle extension.